The Haftorah this past week mentions the second month using the name Ziv. The orignal names of the months are discussed here: First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months? When did the original names ...

According to what it says in the Talmud, the 3rd of the 4 Shabbatot is Parah, and the Talmud says that this 3rd Shabbat is the one immediately after Purim.
In most years this is true. However, this ...

this question presupposes that celebrating secular New Year's eve in the first place is OK. I looked here: " Is it ok to celebrate New Years Eve? " and the answers seemed not fully resolved, but my ...

The following assumes lighting an additional candle for each day of Chanukkah:
Two may light in a single Menorah for the first three days of Chanukkah; each in his end of the Menorah. This does not ...

I have heard that parshat Miketz always falls out on Shabbat Chanukah. If that's the case, why do chumashim print a haftorah for Miketz in addition to the one for Shabbat Chanukah? Should the Chanukah ...

I was sitting over dinner with the mispaha (family) talking about the calendar and I said that Addar 2 happens every seven years, but my dad said that it happens every four. So, my question is: how ...

I have a web project where I need a function either server-side using php or client-side using javascript where I can pass in a Georgian date and have month(s) or years added to it according to the ...

I remember being told that the Seder can be on either the first or second night. Is this true, and if so, is it prefered for it to take place on one over the other, or are they both equal?
Edit:
The ...

a copy of a few lines from the halacha:
Similarly, when the days of a lunar year are counted in groups of seven, according to the weekly cycle, there is a remainder of four days, eight hours, and 876 ...

It's recorded in most siddurim I've used that some people have the custom to skip tachanun on Isru Chag (the day after Sukkos), and start again the day after, while others don't resume saying it until ...

Chazal say that the reason why we don't read the Megillah on the 16 is because the passuk (Esther 9:27) says "velo yavor" - וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר.
Why is there a need for this Passuk? The Megillah said that ...

Not being Jewish I scheduled an event this year, only to learn shortly before it occurred that the date was a Jewish Holiday and so I had essentially excluded Jews. I live in the United States, and ...

Rosh Hashana is the only festival celebrated for two days even in Jerusalem, since there was a possibility that witnesses for the new moon would come in the middle of the day and the Beis Din would ...

I know there are these two questions already (Trying to get Shmita year dates without a headache) and (When is the next shmita year (as of 5772)?); however, they don't appear to provide either a table ...

To the best of my knowledge the Molad is every 29.5 days + 793 Chalakim. Is there any information showing if the current Molad calculation is accurate scientifically? If it is off by how much is it ...

I noticed this related question that briefly discusses Simchat Torah, but it mainly answers those that follow the annual cycle.
People following the annual cycle clebrate Simchat Torah on a Yom Tov ...

As I understand, the Hebrew calendar is counted from the "date of creation". Currently you have the year 5774.
In the Christian world there are some creationists who also believe that the world is of ...

As far as I can remember, during the course of the year there are eight sets of parshiyot that are sometimes joined together:
תרומה תצווה
ויקהל פקודי
תזריע מצורע
אחרי מות קדושים
בהר בחקותי
חוקת בלק
...

I noticed that the only times that parshat Matot and Mas'ei are read separately outside Israel is during a leap year when the first day of the previous Rosh Hashannah occurred on Thursday. This would ...

I recently heard that the destruction of the 2nd Temple was not actually on Tisha B'av, the date of the destruction of the 1st Temple, but that it was pretty close, so the rabbis had it commemorated ...

BSD
I know that it says in Shulchan Aruch one shouldn't cut one's nails on Thursday (really two days before Shabbat) in deference to the Shabbos.
Does this apply to Yom Tov as well? Meaning, should ...

Is there a reference that explains the literal meaning and etymology of the names of the Hebrew months? I am looking for something that explains both the common Babylonian names as well as the Tana"ch ...

The Torah states no numerical divisions for the day. The closest numeric we find is that there are 7 days in the week, and that the start of the "day" begins with "erev" (and there are debates on when ...

I'm implementing support for the Hebrew calendar in Noda Time, my date/time library for .NET. I think I'm mostly there aside from text support (although beta testers would be very welcome!) but one ...

The current Jewish year is 5774 however it is popularly abbreviated as 774 - תשע״ד.
I would like to know why this abbreviation was adopted. I realize that to write out the number 5,000 would require ...

I was curious about this hypothetical situation.
If Yom Kippur would fall on Sunday, Motzei Shabbat, so immediately when Shabbat ends, Yom Kippur starts. Would there be some sort of separation, בין ...

I understand why we have a leap year; to keep the sun and moon cycles in sync, so that Pessach is always in the spring.
That's all technical, as a result of the moon orbiting too slowly - or the sun ...